I recently spent an interesting morning with
my financial planner, Donna. As part of my personal
development, we meet once a year to review what’s
been happening with my modest portfolio. It’s
a good way to start the year, to reassess and
to formulate a plan of action to ensure a prosperous
future, or should I say, my eventual extended
vacation in the sun.
Navigating the maze of jargons populating the
world of mutual funds, money market funds, equity
funds, and global bond funds equates to absolutely
no fun for me. So, Donna’s simplistic approach
works for me.
That morning, we delved into the murky waters
of high-risk investments. It’s a very scary
world indeed for a cautious investor. Questions
and answers flew back and forth, with lots of
questions from me and plenty of responses from
her. Charts and past performance histories were
pulled up and we ensued on a mission to dissect
and analyze. We broke down the unknown and regrouped
them into digestible chunks for consumption. I
wanted the comfort of knowledge.
I think I got it, eventually. What I put into
my future is up to me. The amount, the diversity,
the level of risk and the time commitment; these
are variables which I can control. The outcome
is also dependent on my understanding of what
is going on in the market.
What I put into my portfolio plus time equals
(hopefully) success. The key is to keep up with
consistent contributions, adjusting the amount
in relationship to the inflationary rate. That
helps with continuity and growth, then those lovely
words like capital gains, dividends, and interest
will be a part of my personal thesaurus.
Long-term investment requires nerves of tensile
steel, especially if the market is collapsing
like a house of cards, and your personal life
is being buried right alongside it. Try to stay
in the game, don’t panic, cautions Donna.
If you can stay strong and wait out the worst,
the market will rebound. It always does, that’s
life.
At the end of session, I left feeling lighter,
freer. Knowledge tends to have a buoyant effect
on me. I spent the rest of the day mulling over
what I’ve learned.
A writer’s journey is a long-term investment.
The time we spent learning our craft, the courses
we take to better understand the art of sharing
what we hold close to our heart, and writing memorable
stories that touch others. All this contributes
towards a better appreciation of who we are and
what we can offer as a writer. I like the definition
offered by Farlex online: Market Value –
the amount a seller may expect to obtain for merchandise,
services or securities in an open market.
I like that thought. It’s good to know
that we all have market value.
Helen Cho has spent most of her life feeding
people vast quantities of food, organizing their
holidays in Canada and beyond, and is now writing
to give them something to read on their journeys.
Helen is a member of GVC and loves adventures
from her base on the West Coast.
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